Ancient Beddings from Palace Museum's Collection

As the chilly winter is around the corner, people are taking out thick quilts from their closets or buying new ones. For traditional quilt, the cover is always embroidered with delicate patterns. During the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), the main material for making quilt and mattress was cotton cloth and silk fabrics. In the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), the beddings in families of officials were all made with silk. A range of photos released by the Palace Museum in Beijing on the micro blog Sina Weibo show ancient beddings once used in the Forbidden City. Let's take a look.

A light green silk quilt from the Qing Dynasty. [Photo/Official Weibo account of the Palace Museum]

A yellow satin quilt decorated with colorful clouds and golden dragon patterns, from the Qing Dynasty. [Photo/Official Weibo account of the Palace Museum]

A red quilt embroidered with flower patterns from the Qing Dynasty; A yellow quilt embroidered with cloud dragon patterns; A blue pillow embroidered with buzi (animal or bird insignia indicating ancient officials' ranks) from the Qing Dynasty. [Photo/Official Weibo account of the Palace Museum]

A yellow pillow embroidered with gourd, phoenix and dragon patterns from the Qing Dynasty. [Photo/Official Weibo account of the Palace Museum]

A lunar white quilt crepe embroidered with vine and butterfly patterns from the Tongzhi Period of the Qing Dynasty. [Photo/Official Weibo account of the Palace Museum]

A red satin embroidered quilt decorated with Chinese character "shuang xi"(double happiness), from the Guangxu Period of the Qing Dynasty. [Photo/Official Weibo account of the Palace Museum]

A bright yellow quilt crepe embroidered with flower patterns from the Tongzhi Period of the Qing Dynasty. [Photo/Official Weibo account of the Palace Museum]

An azurite satin quilt decorated with cloud peony patterns from the Qing Dynasty. [Photo/Official Weibo account of the Palace Museum]

A pale pinkish purple silk quilt from the Qing Dynasty. [Photo/Official Weibo account of the Palace Museum]